Insurance companies use automated systems that cater to their own interest, leaning toward the lowest value. A Professional Adjustment Services total loss evaluation report can save/earn you thousands of dollars.

Common questions:

How does the insurance company determine the vehicle is a total loss?

Usually when the amount of the estimated damage exceeds 75% - 80% of the estimated value of the automobile.

What methods do the insurance companies use to determine the value of my total loss vehicle?

Insurance companies use a variety of methods to arrive at the value of a total loss vehicle. The vehicle year, make, model, color, options , mileage, condition, prior damage and geographical location are all factors that could influence a particular vehicle’s value. All utilize some method of sampling the value of a similar vehicles. Most common are companies called CCC Information Services and ADP/AutoSource. They work exclusively for insurers and therefore have an economic interest to supply valuations that are intentionally below the actual fair market value of what the insured vehicles are truly worth. This method involves sending field inventory representatives to car dealerships nationwide and obtaining, not the true retail value of an auto of like kind and quality prior to the accident, but the value a car dealer would sell a vehicle for at basement wholesale prices.

You will find that evaluations based on CCC Information Services and ADP/AutoSource will leave a sizable gap between what you receive/are offered for a totaled vehicle and what you need to replace it.

Most people buy auto insurance because they think owning such insurance means that the insurance company will fight for them in case of an accident. After all, it is reasonable to assume that paying customers have a claim for a supplier’s assistance particularly when the product being sold and brought involves insurance for damages - financial, physical, or otherwise.

Unfortunately, what these same customers come to realize is that insurance companies care only about the bottom line, and not the customer. Since they extract payment from their customers upfront - before their product/service is actually needed - they are able to get away with taking advantage of the very people they were hired to protect and assist.

At Professional Adjustment Services we use NADA Used Car Guide, Kelly Blue Book, Redbook, internet resources, and classified ads. These value guides appear to be the most accurate and fairest way to evaluate a total loss automobile.